UNESCO Bamiyan Cultural Centre

Bamiyan Cultural Centre (BCC) is a cultural community hub located near the boundary of the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley, the World Heritage property in Afghanistan. Bamiyan Cultural Centre project was initially planned by UNESCO and the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan, with the generous financial support of the Republic of Korea. The purpose of the project is to promote heritage safe-guarding and cross-cultural awareness, and thereby contribute to the broader aims of reconciliation, peace-building and economic development in the country. It also aims to create a centre for the cultural community of Bamiyan allowing individuals to commune and share ideas.

While designing the identity, “connectivity” was considered the most important keyword. As Bamiyan has been a remote area in Afghanistan for decades, BCC has been expected to become the place connecting Bamiyan and the rest of the world.

The final logo design is to emphasize connectivity in the form of the fragmented logo shape and the typeface. Ultimately, it shows the chunk of the fragmented parts can turn into a whole new collective form, which is a metaphorical interpretation of BCC’s role. The ‘U’ shapes in the logo stand for the form of the Bamiyan Buddha statue, which was destroyed in 2008.